Germs, bacteria, and viruses that have the potential enter or otherwise affect the human body can cause great risk and harm to human health and well-being. Such pathogens have threatened human health by their appearance on food, hands, and other items that can come in contact with the body. Once present in the human body the pathogens are capable of causing illness and in some circumstances even worse consequences.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, irradiation is a safe technology that can eliminate disease-causing germs from foods. Like pasteurization of milk and pressure cooking of canned foods, treating food with ionizing radiation can kill bacteria and parasites that would otherwise cause foodborne disease. The food that space astronauts eat has been sterilized by irradiation to avoid getting foodborne illness in space. The effects of irradiation on the food and on animals and people eating irradiated food have been studied extensively. Although their conclusions and findings have changed, these studies show effective cleansing results when certain irradiation is used on foods. Similar technology is used in industrial settings to sterilize medical devices so they can be used in surgery or implanted without risk of infection.